Like me, you may have had this experience: you ask someone to do something, they do it… and the outcome is not quite (or at all!) what you wanted.
You might then find yourself stuck choosing between two annoying options:
- Option A: Jump in and “fix it” yourself (because it’s faster than explaining it, or you just can’t be bothered), or
- Option B: Send it back in frustration (and now everyone’s in a mood).
In small to medium-sized businesses, this stuff matters more than people realise. When instructions are vague, you don’t just get a slightly different result; you get rework, wasted time, inconsistent quality, and avoidable conflict.
And here’s the kicker: a lot of the time, the person didn’t so much do a “bad job”. They did a great job… it’s just that the instructions were wrong.
1. The gym story: the path was perfect, but the garden was trashed
My mind turned to this topic when I was at the gym recently, working up a sweat on the “huffy puffy” (there’s a nod to my fellow Kath and Kim fans, I think the more sophisticated gym goers might call it an elliptical 😊). In an effort to distract myself from imminent exhaustion I looked out at the apartment building across the road and saw the grounds maintenance guy clearing the path with his blowervac.
Up and down he went for about 20 minutes, before giving himself a simple nod for a job well done, then packing up and presumably moving onto his next job. I had to agree, he had indeed done a good job: the path looked spotless.
But there was a problem.
The takeaway food bags, cigarette butts, drink cups and chip packets that had been on the path a few minutes ago had been blown from the path into the garden beds, which were now generously sprinkled with litter.
I couldn’t help but wonder whether he’d been given a simple instruction along the lines of: “Blow everything off the path.”
If that was the instruction, he nailed it.
The issue wasn’t effort. It wasn’t skill. It wasn’t attitude.
It was the instruction.
2. The “draw a house” lesson (and why leaders need to stop assuming)
I also saw something similar when I recently ran a training session for new and emerging supervisors/managers.
I split them into small groups and gave each group the instruction to draw a picture of a house.
- Group 1 got the basic instruction: “Draw a house.”
- Group 2 got a bit more detail.
- Group 3 got the full brief: a two-storey house, door in the centre, windows either side, a chimney with smoke, a tree and a dog in the yard.
Only the third group produced what I actually had in my head, and that’s because I was clear with them about what I need/wanted/expected.
After reflecting on the exercise, the feedback from participants was gold:
- “I realised that I sometimes assume that people know what I mean.”
- “I’m not clear enough when I delegate.”
- “I get annoyed when people don’t deliver… but realise it might sometimes be because I didn’t give them the right instructions.”
That’s the point.
People can’t deliver what you want if you haven’t been clear about what “good” looks like.
Clear instructions = Clear Expectations
Setting Expectations (a key component of the Success Through People© Model) isn’t about being controlling or micro-managing.
It’s about giving people:
- clarity on what matters
- clarity on what “done” looks like
- clarity on priorities and standards
- clarity on how success will be measured.
When expectations are clear, you reduce:
- rework
- frustration
- “I thought you meant…” conversations
- inconsistent service and quality
- avoidable performance issues.
And you increase:
- speed
- accountability
- confidence
- consistency.
In other words: clarity is a performance tool.
Why vague instructions are so common (especially in SMEs)
SME leaders often give vague instructions for totally understandable reasons:
- You’re busy. You want to delegate quickly and move on.
- You’re close to the work. You forget other people don’t have your context.
- You’ve done it a thousand times. It feels obvious to you.
- You don’t want to sound pedantic. You assume “they’ll figure it out.”
- You’re trying to be nice. So you soften the message and remove the specifics.
But here’s the blunt truth: if you say things like “Just do it properly” or “Use your common sense”, you’re basically outsourcing your expectations to someone else’s interpretation.
And then acting surprised when you don’t get what you wanted.
The hidden cost: rework, resentment, and risk
A practical framework: The 6 things your instructions should cover
If you want better outcomes, your instructions often need to cover six basics. Think of it as a quick “expectations checklist”.
1) The outcome (what does success look like?)
Don’t just describe the task. Describe the result.
Instead of: “Clean up the path.”
Try: “Make the path and garden beds look tidy: no litter left visible anywhere.”
2) The standard (what does ‘good’ look like?)
This is where most instructions fall over.
- How neat is neat?
- How fast is fast?
- What’s acceptable vs unacceptable?
If you can show an example, even better:
- “Use this photo as the standard.”
- “Match the quality of the last job you did at X.”
3) The constraints (what must we avoid?)
This is the blowervac problem.
Constraints are the “don’t do this” part.
- “Don’t blow litter into the garden beds.”
- “Don’t leave anything that could blow back onto the path.”
- “Don’t use harsh chemicals near the kids’ play area.”
4) The priority (what matters most?)
When people are under time pressure, they’ll optimise for what they think you care about.
So tell them.
- “Speed matters, but quality matters more.”
- “Customer experience is the priority; please keep noise down near the front office.”
- “Do the high-traffic areas first.”
5) The timeframe (when does it need to be done?)
Be specific.
- “By close of business today.”
- “Before the 10am delivery arrives.”
- “By Friday, so we can invoice Monday.”
6) The check-back (how will we confirm it’s on track?)
This is where you prevent rework.
- “Send me a photo when you’re halfway through.”
- “Come and grab me before you finish, so we can do a quick check.”
- “If you hit any issues, tell me early, don’t push through and hope.”
The simplest upgrade you can make: swap ‘do this’ for ‘do this so that…’
If you only change one thing, change this.
When you delegate, add a quick “so that”.
- “Blow the path and collect the litter so that the whole area looks tidy, not just the concrete.”
- “Call the customer and confirm delivery details so that we don’t waste a trip.”
- “Update the spreadsheet by 3pm so that payroll isn’t delayed.”
That one sentence gives context, priority, and purpose.
A quick self-check for leaders: are you clear, or just familiar?
Before you delegate, ask yourself:
- If I wasn’t in my own head, would this make sense?
- Have I described the outcome, or just the task?
- Have I explained what to avoid?
- Have I made it easy for them to check they’re on the right track?
If the answer is no… you’re about to get a “draw a house” result.
Over to you
If you’re after a practical way to tighten up expectations in your business, start with the Success Through People Scorecard. In addition to a bunch of other tips to improve your business, it’ll give you a clear snapshot of where your expectations and accountability are helping performance… and where they’re quietly costing you time and money.
It’s free. takes 10-15 minutes and you can access it now via: https://scorecard.successthroughpeople.com.au/